321 : Rudi Zygadlo

The last time I spoke to Rudi Zygadlo I described his music as “Frank Zappa dubstep: smart, weird pop songs built with big ideas and the kind of magpie ingenuity that is sometimes mistaken for mental illness.” I was right! (for once). Get his new single Don’t Disturb The Beasts for free from his Bandcamp. After the jump he tells us about Chopin, Santa and Ghandi. [PS you can hear me talking rubbish to Radio 1's Jen Long about Rudi on BBC iPlayer.]

Rudi Zygadlo – Filth, Hounds Of Hades [Stream Only]

1. “ The medical condition known as Nutmeg Liver is named because the congested lobes of the liver look like nutmeg veins.”

2. “On the same day as Ghandi and my Grandad’s birthday, my nephew was born and my grandmother died.”

3. “Did you know that Santa Claus and God are not the same person?”

1. “Joni Mitchell, Electricity from the Album, For the Roses. A week or so ago my mother and I listened to this album in the kitchen. I had not heard it for a long time. I had to hide my tears when this track came on. The more hair i lose the more sentimental I grow it seems. This album is the last acoustic album before she went electric in the mid 70′s and got a bit serious with Jaco Pastorius and Pat Metheny and the like. I like it a lot. Potential desert Island disc.”

Joni Mitchell – Electricity [Stream Only]

2. “At an annual Christmas dinner party this year myself and the other diners were serenaded with a sloppy interpretation of Chopin’s First Ballade played by a drunken host on a honky tonk-like, out of tune piano. Unfaithful to the original but charming nonetheless, this was the highlight of the evening’s repertoire which was dominated by pieces from The Sound of Music. My father introduced me to the Chopin’s four ballades a long time ago. I have never heard piano music to better them. Murray Perahia’s recording is a good place to start.”

Murray Perahia – Chopin’s First Ballade [Stream Only]

1. “To have the hands of Keith Jarrett and play like he did in Köln ’75.”

17.01.11.